Review: Lawyer Up by Kate Allure

Reviewed by Shelly

This is my first time to read this author and I’m not sure why I decided on this other than the blurb being interesting at the time. The first in Kate Allure’s ‘Meeting Up Men’ series is about doctors, not sure what kind of doctors, but I’m guessing the stories are similar in their content. Even though these are very short pieces, they told enough of a story to grab my attention.

The first story in the anthology, “Attorney Privileges,” was my favorite. Actress/waitress Beth is in jail when good guy lawyer Jon shows up and makes her an offer she can’t refuse. If she convincingly pleads her case to him, he’ll represent her pro bono. Unfortunately for Beth, the reason she’s behind bars is because she was unknowingly involved in some kind of police operation/bust involving prostitutes; so now she not only has to get out of jail, she has to convince Jon that she’s not a prostitute and get back to work before she loses that job.

For Beth, getting out of jail turns out to be the least of her problems. Once she goes back to the apartment that she’s sharing, she finds out that her roommate has sold her belongings and changed the locks. Jon comes to her rescue and offers her a place to stay.

The story line is a bit formulaic, but it works in this erotica. I actually found Beth to be a pretty likable character. She has some reasonable angst about her social class versus Jon’s. What kind of expectations he might or might not have, that sort of thing. Jon has his own angst considering he’s a recently divorced and the circumstance around that. Those emotions didn’t get delved into, but what we got for the length of the story was decent.

I liked the chemistry between Beth and Jon. The attraction was there but the sex didn’t happen immediately so that was promising.

Rating: B

“Of Unsound Mind and Body” was the shortest of the stories. It was quick and well… quick. Liza has to go to small town Nebraska for her great-aunt’s funeral. Hawk, of Native American decent by his mother’s line, is the lawyer in charge of the taking care of her aunt’s trust. The attraction and subsequent sex is quick with these two.

I didn’t care for this story. 1) I’m not a big fan of this kind of dialogue “his dark skin a wonderful contract against my pale, white flesh.” 2) I really, really enjoy some semblance of a plot with the sex. There was zero build up in this, each time Liza and Hawk met they had sex. There’s no fun in that – that’s just porn.

Rating: D

“Of Writs and Writhing,” features an uncommon age group in romance, much less erotica. Attorney, Pat is 44 years old and she has a thing for the playboy judge, Emmitt, presiding over her case. In his 50s, Emmitt knows a thing or two and he’s very aware of his reputation. As a defense attorney, Pat never wants to lose and she’s certainly not gone to lose this case because some blond with big breasts and a low case of ethics charms her way to victory. In her defense, Pat decides to fight fire with fire and does a wardrobe change to entice Emmitt over to her side. The silliness that ensues has me laughing out loud. I could just picture these two grown attorneys who happen to be women fighting to win a case not by the law but by their sexual appeal.

I laughed so much while I read this but I don’t think I should have been laughing. The idea that flat chested, skinny, tall, flat shoes, polyester suit wearing Pat can in a single day transform into a fitted silk suit, push up bra, silk stockings, stiletto wearing vixen is so outlandish. Why not go with the subtle changes over time? But I guess that’s too time consuming in this novella. And the whole idea of Pat being known to Emmitt prior to the court case but he only found her attractive enough to have sex with after her makeover didn’t leave me with the warm fuzzy feeling of him really liking her personality as much as he liked her new look.